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The Archer is nice but quite "gritty/raspy" compared with the Fredric Golden Eagle I had before it. I've switched amps between those two pedals, so it might be a function of the amp as much as the pedals, but I did prefer the GE just a little.
Once the current board-build is done I might switch to a Tumnus if that buys me space to fit something extra on the board, but we'll see
I had a J Rockett Archer and loved it with a Victory V40. I used it with the volume wound up to 3 o clock and just brought in a touch of the pedal gain to add mids and thicken the sound. It really slammed the front of the amp hard and pushed it into a lovely fat grinding overdrive. I wasn't so keen on the Archer with the gain opened up, it got a bit nasally and lost some of that fast attack. I also used it to warm up and fatten a clean sound and add just a hint of grit, it worked lovely for that as well. It was one of those pedals that you really missed when you turned it off.
I have a Strymon Sunset now that has the 'Ge' mode that gets the Klon flavour quite nicely, not quite as nice as the Archer but good enough for my needs.
I've an EHX Soul Food and some Chinese Klone thingy (it's got a picture of a horse on it - clearly helps the tone).
They make up the main basis for my drive tones. One is set to a really light drive the other something fairly crunchy. Put them both on together and it's really rather good.
I rarely use it at home because it sounds horrible. In rehearsal or at gigs I tend to use it with the gain at 10. This gives it a light overdrive with an eq that cuts through a dense band mix.
It can be used as a clean boost and the treble/tone control is very versatile.
I'm fortunate in that mine was so inexpensive I dont have to invent things to justify the high cost. It's a pedal designed for very specific applications. Stick within the limitations, it's fine.
With an amp on the edge of drive the klon takes it over the edge and adds an eq that places the guitar in the mix without being too loud. It adds something that no other overdrive I've tried does.
I did have an Ethos, and a Zendrive 2 (valve one)
I find that the OD sounds unpleasant for me on higher settings (except the Zendrive)
I use them to just add a little bit of grit, which is the same as I do on my OD on my HRM Dumble clone
Everyone thinks you have to make it sound like Larry Carlton
This is exactly my set-up; Ethos for hyper Hi-Fi cleans and totally OTT, borderline fuzz, overdrive chaos - and the Zen 2 for *that* super-smooth, polished OD.
However, I didn't find the Zendrive worked very well with Strat-type single coils (Tele bridge is sublime through it though!), so I bought what I thought was a cheap Klon knock-off - the Tone Bakery Creme Brulee...
http://www.tonebakery.com/products/creme-brulee
...and I couldn't be happier! It works superbly with all manner of pick-up types (not just the Strat coils I bought it for) and I've yet to hear a pedal that does it's job better than it already does.
It's a keeper...
...until one of these comes along; https://reverb.com/item/1716762-tone-bakery-creme-de-la-creme-boost-overdrive-pedal
That tone bakery pedal looks awesome and incredible value if the prices on Reverb are to be trusted! @ChuckManual
I need to play with the Peacekeeper a bit more though. It seems to work better with one of my amps than it does with the other. I think pedal/amp combinations are important. Some pedals definitely seem to work better with some amps than others.
Watching the That Pedal Show episode on Klones, I was very impressed by the Wampler Tumnus. It seemed to have a bit more low end than the others. I am tempted by that.
£350 is far too much for a pedal too, in my opinion of course.
So the common criticism of the Klone/Klone is a ok/great clean boost and a poor overdrive. IMHO this when it's used solo with a clean amp ie bedroom scenario.
If you use the pedal with an amp working fairly hard in a band mix (either recording a low power amp or live with a real one) the Klon works with the amp and enhances the mids to cut through a mix. It does it unlike no other overdrive. The TS pedals have a different eq. The flatter ones can 'mush' out with a band.
If you want a pedal that sounds great solo/bedroom IMHO get the Friedman. If you want to cut through a live band get the Klon(e).
All IMHO
Completely different kind of pedal, but I got rid of a version 1 OCD because it disappeared in a mix even though it sounded great in isolation. The later versions of the OCD have more mids (athough nowhere near TS level), and work better live.
My number one amp is a Lazy J so that tweed style circuit tends to have quite a lot of mids to start with. I've heard a klone stacked with an OCD into a Blackface style amp and it sounded absolutely epic. With the Tweed style circuit I'm not sure that it would have worked so well.
The other low gain overdrive/boost that I've tried and really liked is the Xotic RC Booster. I've never actually owned one though.
currently my favourite boost is a Bearfoot Baby Pink Booster. I run this at th end of the chain and it's like my amp has gained a few speaker cabs, such a great pedal (and buffer too!)